Aishah Waliyullah
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has formally parted ways politically with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, saying while their personal relationship remains strong, they now occupy different political camps.
The governor disclosed this on Tuesday in an interview with Channels Television, explaining that his decision to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) was guided by political prudence and the need to safeguard his political future ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Yes, I still have a good relationship with Atiku.
There’s nothing that has gone bad. It is just that everybody has taken his political ways. I am today in APC; they are in another party. But the stability of this country matters in the polity of the nation,” Fintiri said.
Fifteen lawmakers of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, including Speaker Bathiya Wesley and Deputy Buba Jijiwa, resigned from the PDP earlier in the week, citing lingering party crises.
Within 24 hours of Fintiri’s defection, 22 commissioners and special advisers also dumped the PDP for APC, aligning politically with the governor.
Fintiri explained that the move was influenced by the absence of a formal PDP presidential candidate for 2027.
“I have been a centre player in the PDP. But I’ve not seen any presidential candidate that has come out to tell me he wants to contest, and I cannot remain and jeopardise my political future with rumours of people who want to contest,” he said.
On the debate over zoning and the presidency, Fintiri argued that it remains the south’s turn to produce the next president.
“A northerner has no business at the moment to fight for the office of the president,” he said, adding that supporting President Bola Tinubu would enhance national stability.
He also lauded ongoing reforms under Tinubu, saying they are already showing results.
Meanwhile, Adamu Abubakar, the first son of Atiku, resigned from Fintiri’s cabinet on Monday after seven years in office.
The governor described the move as a natural alignment with his father’s political stance, noting: “We excuse him out of the government so that he can pitch with his father, which is the normal thing to do.”
Reflecting on his political journey, Fintiri recalled his early involvement with the APC during its formative years in 2014 amid PDP crises in Adamawa and credited his strategic reorganisation ahead of the 2019 elections for unseating the incumbent governor.
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